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16. 'Splinter Cell: Double Agent' (ALL)

Bill Lange: Say it ain't so, Sam! Everyone's favorite fifth-freedom holder takes a walk on the other side of the law and spices up a series that was running low on ideas. Despite my "meh" attitude towards the third installment, I'm looking forward to Fisher's deep-cover assignment. Expect a much darker tone, tough moral decisions, and more of the innovative online play that's become a Splinter Cell trademark.

Hugh McHarg: A latecomer to the joys of stealth, I learned from the first Splinter Cell that I really did have

Bill Lange: Say it ain't so, Sam! Everyone's favorite fifth-freedom holder takes a walk on the other side of the law and spices up a series that was running low on ideas. Despite my "meh" attitude towards the third installment, I'm looking forward to Fisher's deep-cover assignment. Expect a much darker tone, tough moral decisions, and more of the innovative online play that's become a Splinter Cell trademark.

Hugh McHarg: A latecomer to the joys of stealth, I learned from the first Splinter Cell that I really did have the patience to sneak from shadow to shadow shooting out fluorescent lights and pausing to snake a camera through the crack beneath every door. While the series' gameplay evolution has been a consistently compelling reason to return to each new Sam Fisher adventure since then, I'm most eagerly looking forward to Double Agent's story. It seems Sam's deep under cover this time, and he's going to have some more difficult, Jack Bauer-style decisions to make. It sounds like another great, intensity-building addition to the Splinter Cell formula that's going to be sweeter still when done up right on the Xbox 360.

Corey Owen: When each game in a series gets progressively better, anticipation will be high for the newest game in the series, and Double Agent looks like it should have no problem filling the huge shoes of its predecessors. This game looks to take the series in a new direction with Sam Fisher playing the role of a double agent. It's rare that such a high-profile series is willing to go outside the confines of what players expect, and I respect Ubisoft for having the courage to try something new. Ubisoft has always been known to push Xbox to its limits, so I have no doubt that they will do the same on the X360. The single player is always fantastic, and it doesn't hurt that the multiplayer is the most unique of any game to date. If they decided to include co-op in Double Agent as well, we are in for a treat.